


Mired

by Serpenscript



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, M/M, Nudity, Offscreen Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-14 21:57:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15398361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serpenscript/pseuds/Serpenscript
Summary: Exposed as a spy and listed as a fatality, Remus searches for his missing lover.





	Mired

The swamp was a miserable place - a miserable mire of treacherous dead-end paths and pits of quicksand, swarms of biting bugs, low-hanging vines, dead trees, malicious wildlife - and thick, blinding fog.

The mud and stagnant water was scummy and noxious-smelling, but Remus slogged through it relentlessly - several times a ‘safe’ path had proven misleading, or the springy bog path had caved underfoot, spilling him into brackish water. He was wet and covered with mud - despite his efforts to spell it away - and his sweat-soaked shirt and hair clung to his skin. His water and bug repelling charms had failed in the early afternoon, and his stomach growled and grumbled about the missed supper hours ago; still, he plowed on relentlessly, the wolf snarling beneath the skin.

_“Severus was found out as a traitor,” Albus said, blue eyes tired and absent of their twinkle. “He managed to send a last Patronus just before he was captured - “_

_“Where is he?”_

_“My dear boy, he knew he was lost when he sent his Patronus - “ Albus began, but Lupin cut him off._

_“Spare me the platitudes and excuses and just tell me where he is! He’s lost his usefulness as your_ tool _now, I don’t really give a damn what you have to say. Will you just let them torture him after all he’s done for you, the Order, Hogwarts, the entire war?”_

_“Remus. He’s likely already - dead. What could you possibly do?” Solemn faded eyes gazed at him steadily with regret, but Remus stared back defiantly._

_“He’s still alive. The wolf would tell me if he wasn’t!”_

_“Remus.” The tone was stiff with disapproval. “I understand you were on - better terms - with Severus these last few months, but we can’t risk anyone. We can’t risk you, Remus.”_

_Remus frowned, eyes hard and cold. “You understand nothing, Headmaster. You don’t get to decide if I can risk myself or not; I’m not your student. I’m no longer one of your staff members, and I never swore blind obedience over my own conscience when I joined the Order. You’re not omniscient; you make mistakes. You’ve become so caught up in your master plan that you forget the pawns on your chessboard are_ people _\- and people need a reason to fight.” He snarled, and turned for the door. “And_ my _reason to fight - “ he added over his shoulder, bitterly, “....is out there, possibly dying.”_

He’d resorted to blood magic to get a trace of Snape’s location. He knew Albus wouldn’t have approved, but Severus would have lauded the Slytherin-ness of using all means at his disposal. But the spells had only led him to the edge of a large swamp.

The magical swamp drew energy from decay and ambient magic, and guarded its secrets jealously. Its magic warped and twisted spells used to guide, locate, or direct; Apparition was impossible, and even simple charms took repeated casting, and wore off quickly.

 _But I will find him alive - I will - !_ he thought furiously, batting away a huge, rather poisonous looking spider without blinking. He’d seen enough of them to be inured to the threat.

But he knew at some point, werewolf strength or not, he’d have to rest; find a firm tussock in the swamp, make a nest of swamp grass and try to sleep for a couple hours. His muscles burned with fatigue from fighting through mud and treacherous pathways. _A little farther - to that twisted dead tree_ , he thought bleakly, forcing trembling limbs to continue forward.

The path he was on was another dead end, spilling him into bog several feet away from the twisted bent tree ahead of him; he lurched, half blind, through the sucking mud and scummy water, to grab for the trunk, flinging his arms around it.

His hands touched slimy, moss-covered bark - and cold, slippery skin.

He froze for a long moment, as if afraid of what he would find, then forced himself to move again, to slog to the mud to the other side of the tree. Once he had, he couldn’t hold back the low, rumbling growl of fury.

_Oh, Severus -_

His lover had been stripped, gagged and bound. Bruises, welts, and abrasions covered much of his exposed skin; they had beaten him viciously - and thrown into the swamp to die, without a stitch of clothing to protect him from the elements. There was not an inch of skin not marked with mud, bruising, or insect bites; his arms and legs were rubbed raw where he’d fought to loosen his bonds before despair took over. Remus removed the gag first, knowing that the silence was the hardest on his lover, snarling afresh at the raw abrasions at the corners of his mouth where the gag had been tied too tightly.

He pretended to not hear Snape’s shaky sob as he cut the ropes tying wrist to wrist, arm to arm, ankle to ankle, knee to knee, and rubbed blood back into the numb limbs.

“I was - I thought you might not come. Albus - I told him, in my last Patronus. They meant to kill me.” He sucked in a pained breath as restored circulation brought back painful sensation, and he trembled violently.

Remus hesitated - Severus had never been comfortable receiving comfort - then wrapped his arms around his lover’s frame, pulling him close, fiercely. “I knew you were alive. How could you possibly think I could give up? You - mean - _everything_ \- to - me, Severus! Everything!”

Severus shuddered again. “I thought Albus would have talked you out of coming,” he rasped, and Remus could hear bitterness lacing the words.

“He did try to convince me I was too valuable for the cause to risk,” Remus admitted, his voice echoing Snape’s bitterness. He held Severus tighter as he stiffened and continued, “I told him my reason to fight was here - was you. And without you, there was no reason to fight at all.” He combed his fingers lightly through Severus’ matted, muddy hair.

Severus sighed, and wrapped his arms clumsily around Remus, resting his head against Lupin’s shoulder. “Then I guess all I need to ask now is - what took you so long, wolf?”

Remus managed a faint smile. “I’m sorry I made you wait. Location spells don’t work here, and it took blood magic just to track you to the swamp.”

Severus leaned against him, closing his eyes with weariness. “But you’re here now.”

The cold yellow eyes thawed, warmed. “Yes.”

“Take me home, wolf.”

“You only had to ask.”


End file.
